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Data Breach occurs when unauthorized individuals gain access to confidential and personal information. These attacks can cost businesses millions in lost profits, brand damage and regulatory fines.

Attackers use stolen data for a variety of malicious purposes, including selling it on the dark web or using it to commit identity theft or financial fraud. Some of the most high-profile breaches include Equifax in 2017 where hackers gained access to 145 million Americans’ names, addresses and social security numbers; a breach at Marriott that exposed the personal data of 500 million guests; and a breach at Yahoo that affected 3 billion accounts. Attackers can also target government and military organizations. These types of attacks often target weapons patent data, military intelligence and other sensitive information regulated by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

A common cause of these incidents is malware, which can include ransomware that demands a monetary payout from businesses. Other causes of a data breach can include loss or theft of mobile devices, computers or files; hacking via third-party vendors; password phishing; and unintentional disclosures such as from misconfigured websites, email attachments or unsecured social media posts.

As data breaches become more common, companies should have a plan in place for responding to them. It should include identifying the type of information that was compromised, communicating with consumers and determining how to mitigate the risk to them. It’s a good idea to have outside data forensic experts on hand that can assist with investigating what went wrong, capturing forensic images and outlining remediation steps.